NORTHAMPTON — The No. 30 Northampton girls lacrosse team pulled away in the second half to defeat No. 35 Ashland 12-9 in the MIAA Division 2 preliminary round on Monday night.
Heading into the break up 5-4, the Blue Devils didn’t want to let the Clockers hang around. As the third quarter got underway, Northampton immediately got on the attack, with Kaydence Braman cutting to the middle and burying a chance out front just one minute into the second half.
That first goal set the tone for what became a huge third quarter for the Blue Devils, matching their total between the first two 12-minute periods with five goals put up on the board heading into the fourth.
“As we got to the third quarter… I think the scrappiness, the ground balls and the finishes were pretty key for us,” Northampton head coach Ousmane Power-Greene said.
Braman scored her team’s final goal of the third frame as well, bobbling the ball through traffic but maintaining control and finding the back of the net just 43.5 seconds before the fourth.
The senior found herself in the right place at the right time on two other occasions on Monday night, finishing her night with four goals overall. Braman’s pair of other goals came off scooping up groundballs out front of the net, each time quickly getting a shot on net before the defense could react.
“I think [Braman] played scrappy [on Monday], and she scored when we needed it,” Ousmane Power-Greene said. “… Sometimes [it’s] just making it happen, you know, making something happen when there’s nothing there, and I think, two of those goals, she made something happen, with nothing being there.”
Braman was a great compliment to the Blue Devils’ offensive game plan that runs through Imanni Power-Greene and Makayla Fydenkevez. With the two constantly drawing attention and controlling the ball, Braman proved to be a huge third option.
Imanni Power-Greene led the team in scoring on Monday with five goals of her own in the win. The senior was dominant with the ball on her stick, working through constant double teams and taking advantage of every one-on-one matchup she got.
Using the entire attacking zone, Imanni Power-Greene consistently kept Ashland’s defense guessing. Throughout the night, the senior kept her foot on the gas, scoring a goal in each of the four quarters with two in the first.
“What I like about Imanni’s game is, she dodges with her head up, and she’s constantly looking for players,” Ousmane Power-Greene said. “So, as they begin to double, she’s constantly looking… And if they don’t double or play her, they allow her to isolate. Eventually, she usually gets an angle, and she’s able to get her goal production.”
Holding a 10-6 lead as the fourth quarter started, Northampton’s attention was on maintaining possession and controlling the clock as much as possible. The Clockers showed the ability to score quickly throughout the night, forcing the Blue Devils to never get comfortable.
Fydenkevez was huge in executing this strategy for the Blue Devils, doing well to come away with draw controls, while also moving the ball well on the offensive end to keep the clock moving. The junior finished her night with two goals and two assists as well.
With the major time of possession in the final quarter, Northampton’s defense held strong, along with big help from Ainsley Dawson in net. The senior goalie made some big saves in the clutch, picking up six total on the night.
“I liked how we closed it out in the sense of being able to control the ball, dodge, but not always shoot.” Ousmane Power-Greene said. “Sometimes pull it back out, pass to somebody else, let them go, and that’s sort of how the end of the game went, which [must] have been frustrating for [the Clockers].”
Monday night’s victory moves the Blue Devils on to the Round of 32, with a tough matchup coming up with No. 3 Hingham, which has just two losses on the season with a 17-2 record overall, entering the matchup on a 10-game winning streak.
The game is set to be played on Wednesday, May 27, at 4:30 p.m., with Northampton hitting the road and hoping to come out on top as the underdog.
“We’ve played very tough teams this year, top-ranked teams,” Ousmane Power-Greene said. “And when you look at the quarters, we have some great quarters. We have other quarters where we’ve sort of allowed it to get out of control. And so for us, if we can put four quarters of good play, smart play [together], I feel like we can be competitive.”
Weekend Results
Girls lacrosse
Pembroke 17, Belchertown 3 — The Orioles dropped their Division 3 preliminary round matchup on Sunday, unable to keep both offensively and defensively in a tough loss to end the season.
Lia Pikul, Natalie Bodon and Harper Laurenzo each tallied a goal in the defeat, with their efforts unfortunately coming up short.
Baseball
Northampton 9, Easthampton 3 — The Blue Devils took home a solid win to end the season against the Eagles on Friday in non-playoff action. Dylan Lawrence-Riddell threw three shutout innings in the win for Northampton.
At the plate, the Blue Devils tallied 11 hits, led by Maceo Nteta who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Patrick Larson and Bailey Davis each drove in one run for Easthampton, while Cole Wojnar went 2-for-2 at the plate to lead the team in hits in the loss.
